SUNY Upstate Medical University has renovated its “College of Health Professions” building to support the growing demand for Allied Health Professions. The industry is expected to grow by 15 to 30 percent in the next ten years and includes studies in respiratory therapy and medical imaging scientists. Dean Katherine Beissner says health students are different from medical students and can also land high paying jobs after graduation.
“Most of the professions are provided in the context of a healthcare team, and I think that’s a really important thing that we think about as uniting the Allied Health Professions of their critical members of the health care team, because healthcare cannot be delivered just by doctors.”
The college gradually began moving programs into the renovated state of the art building last fall. The building has a storied past. At the height of the Polio Epidemic in 1916, patients were transported to City Center Hospital in Syracuse, and then carried-up several flights of stairs on gurney’s to reach the hospital entrance. College of Health Dean Katherine Beissner has seen the photos. She points out another photo of dated equipment to treat Polio patients
“You see the pictures up there of the iron lung and the hydrotherapy and so forth.”
She says the hospital was phased out in 1977. The building is now known as Silverman Hall, a 16-million dollar state of the art facility to train students in supporting health professions. Beissner brings us to the physical therapy room for pediatric patients.
“Our students work with the children, so they learn about developmental milestones and about treatments. You can see beautiful pictures of children there in beautiful postures as they gain their motor skills. So we have little mini treadmills around the corner.”
The facility also has simulated operating rooms with robotic patients pre-programmed with serious medical emergencies.
“These patients unfortunately are in the intensive care unit and have a number of things that can go wrong in any moment controlled by the faculty and students are here learning their techniques how to react when a patient starts to undergo respiratory failure.”
Beissner says the simulated environment is very authentic and helps students prepare for the real hospital environment. The College of Health Professions continues to see strong enrollment and continued demand for the growing field of Allied Health Professions. The college also accepts transfer students with Associates degrees who can then earn their Bachelors. Upstate Medical University is a supporter of WAER.